An assessment functions formatively to the extent that evidence about student achievement is elicited, interpreted, and used by teachers, learners, or their peers to make decisions about the next steps in instruction that are likely to be better, or better founded, than the decisions they would have made in the absence of that evidence.
The basic idea of ongoing assessment is assessment early and often, not just as topics wind down. Assessment in this spirit does not concern assignment of grades or evaluation of whether instruction was effective. It's assessment designed squarely to feed into the learning process and make learning smaller.
Questioning
Questioning-No hands up except to ask a question
"Pose-pause-pounce-bounce"
Adapted from (http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2011/nov/17/lessons-good-to-outstanding-afl-questioning) What is it?
It is a simple, yet sophisticated, AfL (Assessment for Learning) questioning technique to help teachers move from good-to-outstanding. It also helps address differentiation in the classroom and encourages teachers to take risks. Why is it useful?
For many reasons. The reason I came across this technique was for us to develop our awareness of the new Ofsted criteria in 2009. This technique was a whole-school initiative deployed through our Teaching and Learning group with the wonderful Mr John Bayley.
The strategy encouraged teachers to take risks and tease out the "learning" in class. It also developed our school focus on differentiating objectives and learning experiences by varying our questioning techniques. NO more closed questions in our classrooms! How does it work?
I have listed the four-part approach below with additional information that I hope explains the method. Maybe I should film myself doing it!
1. POSE
• Give the context of your approach to the class.
• Insist on hands down before the question is delivered.
• Provide a question or a series of questions, ensuring that you ask the students to remain reflective.
2. PAUSE...
This is the hard part.
• Ask the class to hold the thought; ... think; ... think again...
• If students are captivated and engaged, try holding the silence for a little while longer and...
• Push the boundaries. Keep the reflection for as long as possible.
3. BOUNCE(!)
• Insist the answer to the question comes from student A and possibly student B, directly and fast!
• Of course plan in your mind who you are going to ask, before speaking to the class.
• Name student A to respond and don't move.
• Possibly don't speak and nip any comments, grunts or noises in the bud! Its magic when you can hear, see and feel a captivated learning audience. We've all seen it.
• Wait for an answer... pause... decipher the support needed if no response is evidently on its way. (Of course, at this stage, you can instigate various strategies for peers to support the questionable student A).
• If student A does manage to answer, the fun part starts here...
4. POUNCE!
• Ask another student B (immediately) after the BOUNCE response, their opinion of student A's answer.
• This can be developed by asking student B and C their opinions to student A's response, irrespective if the answer is correct or not.
• An additional strategy is to bounce the question to a group A...and subsequently, a sub-group B if group A do not deliver a suitable way forward.
• This ensures the teacher is engaging a significant number of students with the question at hand, whilst using this strategy, it also ensures the entire class can be called upon at any given time by just returning to phase 1 or phase 3.
Hot-seat questioning
Ask student a question and then a series of follow-up questions to probe the student's idea in depth. Other students must pay close attention because you can turn to any student and ask them to summarize what the student said.
All-Student Response
"Thinking thumbs"
Students give a thumbs up, thumbs to the side, or thumbs down to indicate their knowledge regarding a specific concept, vocabulary word, or question. This strategy provides immediate formative feedback for the teacher to make immediate modifications to instruction.
"Fist to Five"
Much like the “Thumbs Strategy,” students show the teacher a fist, one, two, three, four, or five fingers to indicate their level of knowledge regarding a specific concept, vocabulary word, or question. A fist would indicate an understanding of zero, and a five would indicate the ability to teach someone else the material. This strategy provides immediate formative feedback for the teacher to make immediate modifications to instruction or form groups.
The basic idea of ongoing assessment is assessment early and often, not just as topics wind down. Assessment in this spirit does not concern assignment of grades or evaluation of whether instruction was effective. It's assessment designed squarely to feed into the learning process and make learning smaller.
Questioning
Questioning-No hands up except to ask a question"Pose-pause-pounce-bounce"
Adapted from (http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2011/nov/17/lessons-good-to-outstanding-afl-questioning)
What is it?
It is a simple, yet sophisticated, AfL (Assessment for Learning) questioning technique to help teachers move from good-to-outstanding. It also helps address differentiation in the classroom and encourages teachers to take risks.
Why is it useful?
For many reasons. The reason I came across this technique was for us to develop our awareness of the new Ofsted criteria in 2009. This technique was a whole-school initiative deployed through our Teaching and Learning group with the wonderful Mr John Bayley.
The strategy encouraged teachers to take risks and tease out the "learning" in class. It also developed our school focus on differentiating objectives and learning experiences by varying our questioning techniques. NO more closed questions in our classrooms!
How does it work?
I have listed the four-part approach below with additional information that I hope explains the method. Maybe I should film myself doing it!
1. POSE
• Give the context of your approach to the class.
• Insist on hands down before the question is delivered.
• Provide a question or a series of questions, ensuring that you ask the students to remain reflective.
2. PAUSE...
This is the hard part.
• Ask the class to hold the thought; ... think; ... think again...
• If students are captivated and engaged, try holding the silence for a little while longer and...
• Push the boundaries. Keep the reflection for as long as possible.
3. BOUNCE(!)
• Insist the answer to the question comes from student A and possibly student B, directly and fast!
• Of course plan in your mind who you are going to ask, before speaking to the class.
• Name student A to respond and don't move.
• Possibly don't speak and nip any comments, grunts or noises in the bud! Its magic when you can hear, see and feel a captivated learning audience. We've all seen it.
• Wait for an answer... pause... decipher the support needed if no response is evidently on its way. (Of course, at this stage, you can instigate various strategies for peers to support the questionable student A).
• If student A does manage to answer, the fun part starts here...
4. POUNCE!
• Ask another student B (immediately) after the BOUNCE response, their opinion of student A's answer.
• This can be developed by asking student B and C their opinions to student A's response, irrespective if the answer is correct or not.
• An additional strategy is to bounce the question to a group A...and subsequently, a sub-group B if group A do not deliver a suitable way forward.
• This ensures the teacher is engaging a significant number of students with the question at hand, whilst using this strategy, it also ensures the entire class can be called upon at any given time by just returning to phase 1 or phase 3.
Hot-seat questioning
Ask student a question and then a series of follow-up questions to probe the student's idea in depth. Other students must pay close attention because you can turn to any student and ask them to summarize what the student said.
All-Student Response
"Thinking thumbs"
Students give a thumbs up, thumbs to the side, or thumbs down to indicate their knowledge regarding a specific concept, vocabulary word, or question. This strategy provides immediate formative feedback for the teacher to make immediate modifications to instruction.
"Fist to Five"
Much like the “Thumbs Strategy,” students show the teacher a fist, one, two, three, four, or five fingers to indicate their level of knowledge regarding a specific concept, vocabulary word, or question. A fist would indicate an understanding of zero, and a five would indicate the ability to teach someone else the material. This strategy provides immediate formative feedback for the teacher to make immediate modifications to instruction or form groups.
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